


My Lady of Fire

by varjohaltija



Series: Clint and Fantastic Beasties [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Clint is such a geek, Dragons, Everybody loves Clint, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 15:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2353166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/varjohaltija/pseuds/varjohaltija
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another lovely day, another angry, scaly problem for the Avengers to take care of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Lady of Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Listening the Hobbit soundtrack on repeat for a day can affect you...  
> Thank you lovely [cristinuke](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Cristinuke) for beta'ing terribly raw, mistake plagued text of mine without a word of complaint. ♥

Clint started singing quietly. Phil didn’t quite catch the song though, until Clint gradually raised his voice, drumming a rhythm onto the side of his leg.

_…If this is to end in fire_  
_Then we should all burn together_  
_Watch the flames climb high into the night…_

Phil fought not to roll his eyes. Clint had amazing voice, but exceptionally bad sense of humour.

Others obviously recognized the song as well: Natasha huffed out an amused breath, a tiny smile flashing on her face. Steve actually groaned. He had grown quite tired of Tolkien quotes and tunes. Phil almost felt guilty for ever introducing Clint to Lord of the Rings all those years ago. But how was he to know he was creating a monster?

“Nobody is going to burn today, Barton. Unless I roast your sorry ass for being extremely demoralizing during an operation.” He was letting way too much fondness leak into his voice.

“Battle.” Clint grinned back. “When you fight against dragons it’s called battle, not some lame operation. And we are warriors. Obviously.” He was buzzing with excitement. Phil was certain Clint was regretting not bringing his longbow.

“The only obvious thing is that you read way too much fantasy. I may need to confiscate your books. And it’s not a dragon.”

To be honest, a Boeing-sized, winged and fire breathing lizard-thing that was tearing apart an army base a mile in front of them was quite dragonish. Damn Asgardians. There was going to be a serious discussion about their sloppy discipline of guarding their borders and prisoners. Despite their promises, Loki had escaped and, as a revenge for his capture, had somehow managed to send a gigantic beast to Earth for them to deal with.

“Oh come on, Coulson! It so is a dragon!”

“Actually, they are called bálormr. Fire snakes.” Thor stepped in.

“Same thing.” Clint sounded disappointed and Phil didn’t have to even look to know that he was pouting. He suppressed the smile.

Thor continued his explanation. “They live in the home of the sun and the moon.” Phil had to think a bit to get the meaning. Thor was probably referring to realm called Muspelheim, a name that loosely meant ‘end of the world through fire’. Phil shivered. He had become quite well-versed at Norse mythology in his hunt for ways to defeat Loki but sometimes he wished he knew less. Although Muspelheim had a dual significance, both as a birth of life and destroyer of it, he couldn’t help concentrating on the latter one. Maybe they all indeed would burn today. Maybe it was time for Ragnarök to fall upon their world.

“What is Agent doing here?” Tony landed next to them. Although Phil was kind of thankful for his dark thoughts to be interrupted, he couldn’t help swearing internally. The man can digest text in dozen languages by simply glancing at it and yet cannot be bothered to read few English sentences of the mission briefing.

“I’m here to talk with it, Stark.”

“It’s sentient?”

Clint couldn’t help chiming in, “Dragons are.” He was practically beaming.

“Shut it, Barton. It’s not a dragon.” Phil shot a piercing glance at archer. He wasn’t even certain why he was so annoyed with the word. It was hard not to find Clint’s excitement endearing, but he should know better. This wasn’t some fantastic adventure from his books. These weren’t tricks of fairly amusing gods of the legends. This was dangerous and they could easily die. He already had lost his life once underestimating this particular god. He wasn’t interested in trying that again. He especially wasn’t interested in letting anybody else get hurt.

“Looks like a dragon to me.” Tony mused. Steve and Bruce nodded in silent agreement.

“Thanks, man.” Clint bumped his fist to Tony’s. Phil sighed. So typical of them to side each other.

Phil took a microphone. “Anyhow, yes, I’m here to try and negotiate with it. Let’s do this.”

“Her.” Thor noted.

“What?”

“It’s her.”

“How can you tell? Nevermind. Barton, stop humming that goddamn song!”

And just as Phil was stepping ahead and raising a mic, Tony had to satisfy his curiosity, “Why you? Cap is a great negotiator.”

Phil had been wondering the same thing. He shrugged. “Thor insisted.”

Tony turned to Thor: “Can’t Heimdall just beam it – her, up or something?” And as he realized _Star Trek_ might not be familiar to an Asgardian, he rephrased, “Move her back to wherever she came from with the Bifrost?”

“Bálormrs can resist the Bifrost. They go willingly or not at all.”

Phil pushed down the worrying thoughts of what this implied with Loki’s magic mojo if he was able to transport such a powerful creature against its will between realms.

“It’s magical. Dragon. What did I tell you?” Clint muttered under his breath. Natasha elbowed him in the ribs and shushed him, “Stop already. You might make it angry if you call it that.” Phil wanted to kiss her. At least one of them was thinking.

Clint took a glance at the creature. “She seems pretty pissed already.” He had a point. Pissed was putting it mildly. Wrathful might just about cover it. Luckily, the base she was ravaging had been evacuated, because everything that hadn’t been turned into rubble, was burning.

“She should be. Loki killed her mate before sending her here. I would assume in order to make her take out her rage onto Midgard.” Thor explained with disdain.

“That fucking bastard.” Phil had rarely heard Steve swear, but this certainly was called for. He had no doubt that they all agreed. That was a despicable thing to do. Poor beast.

But there was no time for wallowing. Phil squared his shoulders, cleared his throat and turned the microphone on.

“Ma’am… Excuse me. Would you put that helicopter down. Gently. Please.” For a moment it seemed like the loudspeakers couldn’t carry his voice far enough to be heard over the noise. But then the bálormr stopped ripping apart its surroundings.

The creature turned to face them; she set aside an attack helicopter she had been holding and took few giant leaps, wings lazily helping along to get nearer, and crouched down next to the small hill they were settled into. She lowered her head to their level, her focus nailed on the man in the suit. She was maybe one hundred feet away and absolutely enormous. She could swallow them all without chewing. Orange eyes were glowing like embers and even though she was keeping her distance, they could feel the heat radiating from her. The grass underneath her was already scorched, and tiny bushes near her were catching fire.

“You are polite, Midgardian. I think I quite like that.” Her voice was raspy and very deep. It felt like standing in front of a bass speaker.

“You don’t look like a warrior. Yet you behave like you were one.” She sounded curious.

Phil changed to megaphone, “Many kinds of wars, many ways to fight, Ma’am.”

“You command these men? You lead them into battle?” Her eyes flickered to the Avengers standing in formation a few steps behind Phil.

“No, Ma’am.”

“You are their chief then? A man of great power?”

“Wouldn’t say so, Ma’am.”

“Then who are you to speak to me? You insignificant mortal?” It was pure poison and spite and she lurched ahead, snapping her wings shut with loud bang and sending a blow of hot, acrid air towards them.

The Avengers had been ordered to not do a thing unless explicitly told so, but Clint reached for his bow without thinking. By his side he heard Iron Man’s plasma cannons click on, behind him, Steve’s shield gave out a tiny clang as he adjusted his grip and from the corner of his eye Clint noticed a tiny, almost unrecognizable change in Natasha’s stance – no matter how big and scary and magical the beast was, she was ready to give it a seriously hard time. A groan from far back told Clint that Bruce had Hulked up. He couldn’t really blame the man. His own anger had boiled to the surface unasked.

Yet, as far as Clint could tell, Phil hadn’t even flinched.

The creature took in the reactions of the group, tilting her head from side to side as if trying to get a better view before pulling back. There was a low, almost seismic rumble from somewhere deep within her. It took Clint a moment to understand that the thing was laughing.

“I can see I have offended these warriors by questioning your authority. You do not know your own worth. You are their leader if not on the battlefield, then in the spirit. Do continue, Son of Coul. Far be it from me to look down on a man who has fought his way back from Hel.”

Phil was both relieved and taken aback. This creature knew who he was. How? What else did she know?

“Ma’am. We understand you were teleported here somewhat accidentally. Your presence here, while a great honor to our realm, is causing distress and damage to the people we have sworn to protect. If you would be so gracious, kindly let us assist you on your way back home.”

Phil was treading carefully. Insinuating that she was forced here against her will could have been a potential insult.

She must have noticed the intention behind the wording.

Her anatomy didn’t allow facial expressions, but there was a definite smile to be heard in her voice. “I _do_ like you. Yes… I was not quite planning to come here. Your… services… would be quite welcome. I would appreciate leaving this place as soon as possible.”

“Thank you for accepting our humble offer. We can fulfill your request right away. It will be our greatest pleasure to serve you. Thor Odinsson will escort you. So Ma’am, if you please…” Phil gestured at the direction where she could be safely captured by the Bifrost and nodded at Thor who took flight to show the way. She rose to follow after him, impossibly gracefully for such a huge creature. She stopped, lowered her head once more and let her gaze fall upon the humans.

There was undeniable fondness in her tone. “’Dragon’ is a perfectly good name, little hawk. Do not let your falconer tell you otherwise.” Clint felt himself turn pink. Dragons apparently had amazing hearing. And insight.

“But you, tin can!” Her eyes blazed angrily at Tony and her voice hit like a whip. “Think of me as a ‘bitch’ one more time, Stark, and I shall turn you into boeuf Wellington with an iron crust.”

Tony let out a choked sound of surprise. Phil raised an eyebrow. Thor hadn’t mentioned that these things were able to read minds. Suddenly it became clear how the creature had known him. Maybe that was the reason he had been asked to talk to her? She would have learned he had been hurt by Loki as well. Enemy of my enemy…

She huffed out a tiny cloud of black smoke, turned and took off majestically, following Thor. Clint watched her go. She was beautiful and terrifying and Clint felt a chill running down his back. A dragon. He had met an actual dragon. How fucking cool was that!?

Suddenly time stopped around Clint… and then there was a foreign will brushing softly against his mind. He nearly panicked, but it wasn’t a hurtful, icy grip like Loki’s. It was a gentle caress, like a glow of a distant fireplace. He could feel the whispering on the edge of his consciousness. “ _little hawk… you have had your wings clipped. You have had your will tethered. But you can fly again. And all the tethers you carry now you have taken willingly._ ” Clint’s hand moved almost on its own to touch the ring tangling in a chain under his tact suit. “ _Your falconer is a good man. He would do anything to keep you safe. Body and soul both._ ” There was a tinge of envy, but mostly he could sense just profound sadness and longing. She was lonely and hurt. She was scared. And she let him see it. They both had been made into Loki’s weapons, both had been robbed of their loved ones on the impulse of the mad god. But while he had gotten his mate back, hers would never return. He felt genuinely sorry for the big lizard. He wished he could reach out and pet her, that he could take her home and give her shelter. A wave of warm, tingling amusement washed over him, the sensation of a giggling young woman with orange eyes, wearing fire. “ _I am not a stray dog, Clint. But I appreciate your sympathy and generous heart. And if you ever need assistance in your quest on putting the arrow through the eye of Laufeyson, just call me._ ”

Time lurched forward, the Bifrost appeared and she was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you try to find it: Bálormr isn't any existing beast from Marvel universe or Norse mythology. Totally made up word, from Old Norse bál=pyre and ormr=wyrm. I'm not a linguist - I'm so very sorry if I have done some terrible violence.:)


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